“And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis.”
Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis — the routing through Sidon before returning south to Galilee and the Decapolis is geographically unusual — Sidon is north of Tyre, making the route circuitous. The extended Gentile circuit communicates that Jesus is not merely passing through Tyre but conducting a sustained ministry in the Gentile regions before returning to Jewish territory. The Decapolis was the site of the Gerasene exorcism (chapter 5) — the territory where the Gerasene man was commissioned to testify.